My son, Colin, started playing football this year for the first time ever. He is fourteen and is already over six feet tall, so people have been advising him to get into football for a while. This year, our family moved to a new school system and Colin started high school, so it seemed like the thing to do.
I’m learning lots about positions and plays and yellow flags and uniforms. I had no idea all the pieces and parts a player must wear on the field. The first week Colin came home with his uniform, I learned he wore a girdle. A girdle!
He asked, “Mom, do you even know what I girdle is?” Instead of telling him there was one in my panty drawer, I just nodded my head with uncertainty, wondering why a football player needed smooth curves. You see, I knew what a “granny girdle” was – a torturous contraption to squeeze the ever-lovin’ life out of you. I knew you didn’t sit in them for long periods of time or the oxygen would shut off to your brain and you could faint. I knew you couldn’t eat seconds wearing them and probably should order a salad. I knew you shouldn’t attempt to put one on in front of your spouse for fear they would see you shouting, hopping, swearing and stomping.
But this was something completely different. Colin’s girdle is like padded underwear. It is an added layer of protection between his body and the elbows, knees and helmets of other players.
Today, I was reading Priscilla Shirer’s book Fervent. And in it she talks about the armor of God. In referring to the “belt of truth,” she says, “Based on the history of what first-century soldier’s gear was like, think of it like a girdle, worn close around the body, with all his other pieces of armor tucked into it and held together by it.”
When reading that, I immediately thought of Colin’s football girdle and how it provides protection from hits. Paul tells us about the spiritual armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. Ephesians 6:13-14 NLT
The belt of truth is that girdle – an added layer of protection from the hits. It’s at the center of us. Truth. It’s what holds all the pieces together.
God’s Truth.
So, if you feel like you are in a battle or maybe you feel like the bottom man of the dog pile on the football field, and the weight of it all is more than you can bear. Strap on your girdle of Truth.
God will never leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
He has plans to prosper you, not to harm you. (Jeremiah 29:11)
He who began a good work in you will finish it. (Philippians 1:6)
God loves you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)
God will work all the events of your life together for His good. (Romans 8:28)
God will fight for you. (Exodus 14:14)
So stand firm. And that hard thing. That thing that feels like it will consume you – it won’t. God won’t let it.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2 NIV
Put on your girdle. They’re not just for grandmas anymore. It’s the Truth.